


Within the Clouds

by cyborgoverlord



Category: Wandersong (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Mentions of Audrey and Grandma Saphy, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 08:51:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17220776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyborgoverlord/pseuds/cyborgoverlord
Summary: Bard has his doubts about what they're doing. Miriam talks him through them.





	Within the Clouds

**Author's Note:**

> this is somewhere late game but pre-mount ichor!
> 
> (bard is trans, as usual)

It’s surprisingly quiet on their way across the sky. If Miriam couldn’t feel his weight on her broom, she would’ve thought that Bard wasn’t with her.

The sky was dark - clouds overhead as the weather worsens. It’s cold, the kind of cold you can feel in your bones - in your core. The cold that brings the dread. The dread of unknowing, yet the dread of knowing exactly what was happening.

It was a lot. All of this was a lot. When Miriam was with her grandmother it was another case; she felt like she knew a lot more. She felt like she could actually do something.

But here, with Bard, miles above the ground - there’s an uncertainty. After learning all that they had learnt, could they really do this? Could they...save the world? They had experienced so many obstacles - and it wasn’t like they weren’t going to face any more.

They had a hard path ahead of them, and...Bard’s enthusiasm - his ability to keep his head strong and optimism shining was...something that helped.  Sometimes it was like there was hardly anything wrong - but she was sure to remind him why exactly they were there.

"Hey, Miriam?” Bard’s voice comes questioning - soft, softer than usual. She hums in response, concentrating on flight as she tries to evade the storms. She almost thinks he won’t continue, until he speaks up again, “Do you think what we’re doing is...the right thing?”

The words nearly pull Miriam’s broom to a deadstop. What was this? - The right thing? Were all the falls and bumps to the head finally getting to him? The question angers her, for a moment - feeling like he was almost trying to undermine what they were trying to do.

But she evens out, “Of course it is.” her answer is short, to the point - words sharp as her brows furrow. “That  _ hero _ , or whatever, is wrong. Plus, there’s plenty on this earth worth saving.”

She sounds so sure - the surest she ever has. Bard goes quiet once more, his weight slumping against her back. It was an...odd exchange. Usually this atmosphere was reversed. However, throughout their trip - and throughout Miriam’s life - she was never one to back down. Once she was set on a path, she had to stay on it.

She had her doubts, her fears, her faults. She knows she’s not perfect, and knows that she wouldn’t have been able to do this alone - no matter how much it sucks to admit that.

“I mean, I know that. The world needs saving, but…” - and he’s quiet again, uncertainty filling the air. Miriam decides to take it onto herself to continue.

“Look.” She wants to choose her words carefully here, words with meaning and words with truth, “Before all this, if Grandma Saphy and I had just...stayed to ourselves, and we had no idea what was happening, I’m sure we would have stayed and protected our own.”

She can feel Bard’s attention on her. She hates talking like this, but she’s come to realise...sometimes her feelings aren’t the most important. Ugh. She’s been hanging around Bard way too much.

“But now...there’s too much at stake. If we don’t do this, who will? Who would even stand up to that  _ hero _ ? Who would know where to start? It’s too late to start, and too late to stop. Like it or not, we’re here. And we have to do this.” - even if the words are uncomfortable to share, they’re true through and through. Something Miriam has realised is sometimes Bard just needs talking to.

She knows it’s easy to lose the light. There are many times early on that she wanted to give up - to go home. Bard seemed like he knew what he was doing. Like he didn’t need her. But no one can bear this burden on their own; not even him.

“Find something to fight for, Bard.”

He stirs slightly, turning on her broom so that he’s sideways - possibly to get a better look at Miriam. “What do you fight for, Miriam?” - he asks, still quiet - but not as lost. He understands.

Miriam is quiet, mulling over her words in her head. “Grandma Saphy, most of all. I can’t imagine a life without her. If there’s a chance I can repay her by saving the world, then...yeah.”

Bard goes to speak, to return his own thoughts, but before he can Miriam continues, “And, I guess...ugh. Agh, you.” - and he tenses, speechless. “Don’t let this go to your head. You’re annoying, and always distracted, and your overt happiness gets on my  _ nerves _ -” she coughs, clearing her throat in awkwardness before getting back to the point.

“But you’ve taught me some things. I feel like if I was here, alone, I wouldn’t have...thought. About certain things. About myself. I wouldn’t have someone to compare myself to.”

_ 'And I want to better myself.’ _ she continues, inwardly.

Bard’s weight shifts again, getting comfortable against her back - but not leaning against her too much because he knows that can mess with her flight. He looks backwards, into the storm, thoughts in his own mind lifting as Miriam lifts his spirits.

Bard was hardly ever...close to people, like this. Not even his own parents. He never knew his father and his mother never understood him, or even tried to.

So up here, in the clouds, with someone he feels...understands him...is serene. He mentally goes over Miriam’s words, before responding to her. “Let’s save the world, then.”

And Miriam chuckles, a soft yet scheming smile coming to her lips as she speeds up.

And onto the next Overseer they go, their conversation left to the clouds.


End file.
